WEF’s 1st Global Social Mobility Index 2020: India ranks 76th & Denmark tops the list

On January 20, 2020 the World Economic Forum (WEF) released 1st edition of a report titled “The Global Social Mobility Report 2020: Equality, Opportunity and a New Economic Imperative”. The global social mobility index (GSMI) of 82 countries were launched in this report. As per the Index, India ranked at the 76th position with a score of 42.7while Denmark topped the list. The key findings in the report are as follows:The Global Social Mobility Report 2020:

Report on India:

i.India is among the 5 countries namely China, the United States(US), Japan and Germany which stands to gain most from boosting social mobility score.

ii.India ranks 41st in lifelong learning while it ranks 53rd in working conditions. It has the second-highest level of workers in vulnerable employment behind Saudi Arabia.

iii.Improvement needed areas:  Social protection and fair wage distribution are the areas in which India needs improvement. It ranks 76th in social protection and 79th in fair wage distribution.

General report:

 i.Key indicators: The index was prepared on 5 dimensions with 10 key indicators. The 5 dimensions are health; education (access, quality and equity); technology; work (opportunities, wages, conditions); and protections & institutions (social protection and inclusive institutions).

ii.Top 5 countries in the index:  Denmark is followed by Norway (score 83.6), Finland(score 83.6) , Sweden (83.5) and Iceland (82.7) in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th place respectively.  It is to be noted that the top 5 countries are all Nordic countries.

• Top 10 countries: Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg rank 6th, 7th, 8th 9th and 10th in the list.

iii.G7 countries: Among the G7(group of 7) countries, Germany is the most socially mobile at rank 11t & score 78 points. It was followed by France at rank 12, Canada at rank 14, Japan at rank 15, the United Kingdom(UK) at rank 21, US at rank (27th) and Italy with 34th rank.

iv.BRICS nations: When comparing all the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nations, Russia (rank 39) is the most socially mobile followed by China (45th), Brazil (60th), India (76th) and South Africa (77th).

v.Most to gain economy: As per the analysis the economy with the most to gain is China, whose economy could grow by an extra $103 billion per annum, or $1 trillion dollars over the decade.

vi.Economy boosting by 2030: The WEF has found that by increasing social mobility by 10% would benefit social cohesion and also by 2030, the world’s economies will be boosted by nearly 5%. US would make the 2nd-largest gains, at $87 billion a year followed by India, followed by Japan, Germany, Russia, Indonesia, Brazil, the UK and France.

vii.Low performers factors: Economies that were organized more on “shareholder value maximization”, or “state capitalism”, tend to perform less.

viii.Social mobility:  It is a movement in personal circumstances either “upwards” or “downwards” of an individual in relation to those of their parents. It can also be explained as the ability of a child to experience a better life than their parents. On the other hand, relative social mobility means assessment of the impact of socio-economic background on an individual’s outcomes in life. Click here to know more.

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About World Economic Forum(WEF):
Founded- January 1971.
Headquarters- Geneva, Switzerland.
Founder & Chairman- Klaus Schwab.